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Order Cycles

You can control the steps required to process your orders from entry to shipping and invoicing using order cycles. Order cycles allow you to control each order's incremental progress so there is no risk in placing orders on-line before every exception has been approved. You can define as many different order cycles as required to meet both simple and complex sales order processing needs.

Order cycles allow all your orders to move automatically through the order process. As a result, you can enter and book orders sooner, allowing more departments to see demand earlier. Furthermore, since orders are on-line early, you have a more precise audit trail to clarify processing bottlenecks and to determine where and why order or order line cancellations occur in the process.

For more technical information regarding customizing order cycles to meet your business needs, see the Oracle Order Entry/Shipping Technical Reference Manual.

Order Cycles

Define order cycles to establish the activity that an order follows from initial entry through shipping and invoicing, or that a return follows from initial entry through receiving and crediting. You can define as many order cycles as your business requires.

Approval Actions

You can define manual approvals for greater control of your operations. You can approve product configurations, pricing discounts, export clearance, or release of beta products. You can place approvals anywhere within an order cycle to ensure proper validation of order activity, except between pick release and ship confirmation for orders. Each order cycle can contain multiple approvals.

On-line Approval

You maintain maximum control on the exact orders, returns, order lines, and return lines receiving approval. You can view, select, and approve everything awaiting approval.

Order and Line Actions

You can define and utilize both order and return actions and order and return line actions. Order actions ensure that the order functions as a single entity. For example, you can perform an offline engineering review for an entire order, or you can prevent an entire order from releasing for shipping until it receives approval. Order line actions, on the other hand, allow individual lines to be processed independently so a single order or return can have lines at different actions simultaneously. For example, one line may be awaiting approval, while another has been approved to ship immediately. Also, non-shippable lines can progress directly to invoicing, while shippable lines can follow a standard picking and shipping cycle.

On-line Status

Oracle Order Entry/Shipping's on-line inquiry capability lets you review the status of an order or return. Use this feature to obtain up-to-date information regarding the activity an order, return, order line, or return line is currently eligible to perform as well as a comprehensive history of completed activity.

Order Cycle Reporting

Use the Order Cycle Listing to report on all defined order cycles to determine the optimum order cycle for each of your order types. Use the Order Cycle Picture Report to verify movement of orders through their appropriate cycle actions.

Closing Orders

Oracle Order Entry/Shipping automatically closes orders that have progressed through and successfully completed their order cycles when you submit the Close Orders program. An order line or return line closes when it completes all of the line-level actions within the cycle. An order, on the other hand, closes when it completes all of the order-level actions within its cycle and all of its lines close.

Attention: Be sure to include the standard actions of Complete Line and Complete Order at the end of all your order cycles to ensure that your orders and returns close once all prerequisites have been met.

By automatically closing complete orders and returns, Oracle Order Entry/Shipping improves performance since queries in most windows retrieve only open orders and returns. Also, many Oracle Order Entry/Shipping standard reports do not include closed orders and returns, so you can limit your reporting to active orders and returns.

Assigning an Order Cycle to an Order Type

Assign an order cycle to an order type to make an order cycle available to sales orders, internal sales orders, service orders, or returns. When you specify an order type for a sales order, internal sales order, or return, that order type determines the order cycle used. This allows you to specify different approvals and order processes for each of your order types.

See Also

Actions and Results

How Existing Orders are Affected by Order Cycle Modifications

Order Cycle Tips

Sample Order Cycles

Actions and Results

Order cycles are composed of distinct cycle actions. A cycle action indicates a processing step such as entering the order, reviewing the order for legal approval, or pick releasing the order. Cycle actions produce specific results; for example, the action of entering the order can result in the order being partially entered or being booked.

To create an order cycle, you link the cycle actions together in a sequence. You use the results of a cycle action to indicate when an order should proceed to the next cycle action in the order cycle. For example, your order cycle specifies first entering an order then pick releasing the order. The order should only proceed to Pick Release after the order is booked. The prerequisite for Pick Release in this cycle is the cycle action of Enter with a result of Booked. Oracle Order Entry/Shipping provides some standard cycle actions and results. You can define others to meet your business needs. You determine the sequence of the steps for your order cycles by designating specific results as prerequisites for each cycle action. See: Defining Cycle Actions and Defining Order Cycles

Standard Actions

Enter Enters the order in the system. This is always the first action in any order cycle.
Demand Interface Updates Oracle Inventory with a demand request for the items on orders when demand is not done on-line.
Purchase Release Passes drop-ship order lines to Oracle Purchasing for generation of purchase requisitions.
Manufacturing Release Releases orders to Manufacturing for assembly of either a unique ATO configuration or a standard ATO item.
Pick Release Releases order lines for picking.
Ship Confirm Confirms actual shipments after picking.
Backorder Release Releases backordered order lines for picking.
Receivables Interface Passes order lines to Oracle Receivables for billing.
Inventory Interface Passes order lines to Oracle Inventory to update quantity shipped.
RMA Interface Passes Return Material Authorization information between Oracle Order Entry/Shipping and Oracle Inventory to communicate authorized and received quantities of a return.
Cancel Order Indicates the entire order or return has been cancelled.
Cancel Line Indicates the order line or return line has been cancelled.
Complete Line Closes the order line or return line for further processing after it has completed all of its cycle actions.
Complete Order Closes the order or return for further processing after it has completed all of its cycle actions and all of its lines are complete.

Standard Results

Oracle Order Entry/Shipping also provides standard results for each of these actions. Refer to the following table for an explanation of the results of each action. You can add results for the Enter action to indicate different states for an unbooked order. The cycle actions Manufacturing Release and Demand Interface are the only standard cycle actions which can process unbooked orders. All other standard actions require the order to be booked as well as meet explicit cycle prerequisites before processing can begin. You cannot add results for any other standard cycle actions, since the programs that perform these actions only return the standard results.

Several actions have a result of Not Applicable, which is automatically achieved when a cycle action determines that an action is not necessary for an item on an order or return line because of item attributes. For example, a non-shippable item does not need to be pick released.

Attention: If you are using an order cycle for non-shippable items that includes Pick Release and Ship Confirm, then the initial result for those programs is Eligible. Oracle Order Entry/Shipping changes the result for Pick Release to Not Applicable and Ship Confirm to Eligible when you run Pick Release on the order or order line. The next time you run the Update Shipping Information program, Oracle Order Entry/Shipping changes the Ship Confirm result to Not Applicable as well. The next cycle action(s) in the order cycle will then have a result of Eligible.

Attention: Oracle Order Entry/Shipping automatically handles a result of Not Applicable. When a line receives a result of Not Applicable for a cycle action, it immediately becomes eligible for the next action in its order cycle. For example, if Receivables Interface - Interfaced to Receivables is a prerequisite for Complete Line and the order line receives a result of Receivables Interface - Not Applicable, it becomes automatically eligible for Complete Line.

Cycle Action Results Meaning
Backorder Release Released Released the order line from backorder status for picking.
Cancel Line* Cancelled Cancelled the entire quantity of the line.
Partial Cancelled a portion of the line.
Cancel Order* Cancelled Cancelled the entire order.
Complete Order Closed The order is closed.
Complete Line Closed The line is closed.
Demand Interface Interfaced Placed demand for the full quantity of the line.
Partial Placed demand for a partial quantity of a line with multiple schedule details.
Not Applicable Demand is not placed for items with the OE Transactable item attribute set to No.
Enter Entered Completely entered the order, but it is not yet ready to be booked.
Partial Entered some of the order, but it is still incomplete.
Booked Booked the order, it is ready to proceed through the order cycle.
Inventory Interface Interfaced The order line has been successfully interfaced with Oracle Inventory.
Partial Interfaced only part of the order line with Oracle Inventory.
Interface Error Oracle Order Entry/Shipping could not interface the order line with Oracle Inventory.
Not Applicable Items with the OE Transactable item attribute set to No do not interface to Inventory.
Manufacturing Release Released Order Entry/Shipping has released the order line to Manufacturing so that Bills of Material and Work in Process can see that there is a ATO model demanded, and they can respond appropriately.
Configuration Created Oracle Bills of Material has created the configuration.
Work Order Opened Oracle Work In Process has opened the work order for the line.
Work Order Partially Completed| Oracle Work In Process has partially completed the work order for the line.
Work Order Completed| Oracle Work In Process has successfully completed the work order for the line.
Not Applicable Non-ATO items or configurations bypass Manufacturing Release.
Pick Release Partial An order line has multiple schedule details and at least one of the schedule details has been released and at least one of the schedule details has not been released.
Released All schedule details for an order have been released. Schedule details can be released when you autobackorder all picking lines, release a partial quantity of a picking line, or release the full quantity of a picking line.
Not Applicable Items with the Shippable Item item attribute set to No bypass Pick Release.
Purchase Release Interfaced The order line has been interfaced successfully with Oracle Purchasing.
Partial Oracle Purchasing has recorded receipt for a partial quantity of the order line.
Confirmed Oracle Purchasing has recorded receipt for the complete quantity of the order line.
Not Applicable Lines with a Source Type other than External do not interface to Purchasing.
RMA Interface Interfaced Successfully interfaced the return line with Oracle Inventory.
Partially Accepted Some of the items being returned have been accepted into a subinventory.
Completely Accepted All of the items being returned have been accepted into a subinventory.
Not Applicable Items with the Shippable Item item attribute set to No do not interface to Inventory for receipt.
Receivables Interface Interfaced to Receivables Successfully interfaced the order line with Oracle Receivables.
Partial Interfaced only part of the order line with Oracle Receivables.
Not Applicable Items with the Invoice Enabled item attribute set to No do not interface to Receivables.
Ship Confirm Backordered-Partial Confirmed a portion of the requested quantity in Ship Confirm and backordered the remaining requested quantity.
Partial Released a portion of the ordered quantity in Pick Release and confirmed the entire requested quantity in Ship Confirm.
Backordered-Complete Backordered the entire requested quantity in Ship Confirm.
Confirmed Released the entire ordered quantity in Pick Release and confirmed the entire requested quantity in Ship Confirm.
Not Applicable Items with the Shippable Item item attribute set to No bypass Ship Confirm.
* Denotes cycle actions that are not required in any order cycle. Oracle Order Entry/Shipping automatically updates orders and order lines with these statuses when you perform a cancellation. | Denotes the only possible results for Manufacturing Release that you can use as prerequisites for any cycle action.
Table 1 - 2.

User Cycle Actions

You can define your own cycle actions and results to create customized order cycles that meet your specific business needs. For example, you may wish to process an export approval before releasing international orders for shipment. User cycle actions can be approval actions, which you can approve on-line in the Find Order and Line Approvals window. You can also approve approval actions through customized on-line or batch programs, or you can create non-approval steps to trigger customized on-line or batch programs. The Oracle Order Entry/Shipping Technical Reference Manual provides more detail on user exits that facilitate integrating customized on-line and batch programs with order cycles.

Cycle Results

The Cycle Results window displays whether or not any of the predefined cycle results are appropriate for your new cycle action. If they are not, you can use this window to add your own cycle results. See: Defining Cycle Results

Assign Results to Cycle Actions

Link your newly defined cycle actions and results in the Cycle Action Results window. Action-Result relationships defined on this window appear as options in the Order Cycles window. Once you have assigned results to cycle actions, you can use your cycle actions and results to build an order cycle. See: Assigning Cycle Action Results

See Also

Order Cycles

How Existing Orders are Affected by Order Cycle Modifications

When you modify an order cycle, existing orders that use that cycle are subject to your changes as soon as Order Entry/Shipping processes the orders.

If you add a cycle action or result and it is now a prerequisite for another step, orders formerly eligible for the step that requires the new cycle action as a prerequisite must process through the new cycle action. For example, say you modify an order cycle to add a cycle action called Export Approval between the Enter and Pick Release cycle actions. Export Approval is now a prerequisite for Pick Release. Orders that were eligible for Pick Release before your cycle modification are now eligible for Export Approval. Orders that were already pick released before the modification remain unchanged after the modification. Orders that had not yet passed the Enter cycle action now proceed to the Export Approval cycle action upon booking.

If you delete a cycle action or result and it is no longer a prerequisite for other steps, orders formerly eligible for the deleted step are no longer required to process through the deleted step and can proceed according to the new cycle action prerequisites. For example, an order cycle has a Legal Review approval action between the Enter and Pick Release cycle actions, and you delete the Legal Review cycle action. The orders that were formerly eligible for Legal Review now become eligible for Pick Release and do not have to process through Legal Review.

See Also

Order Cycles

Order Cycle Tips

Line-level cycle actions allow the individual lines of an order or return to move through the order cycle independently of each other. Pick Release is an example of a line-level action. Order-level cycle actions require all lines on an order or return to move through the order cycle together. Enter is an example of a order-level action. When you book an order, all lines on the order receive the result Booked. A line-level action cannot be the prerequisite to an order-level action. You can query cycle actions in the Cycle Actions window and look at the Level field to determine whether an action is line- or order-level. You have the option of creating order- or line-level approval cycle actions. All standard cycle actions, except for Enter, Cancel Order, and Complete Order, are line-level actions. In a typical order cycle without approvals, the first line-level action is Pick Release. This means that you cannot have order-level approvals after the Pick Release cycle action.

If you are processing orders that have already shipped to your customer or that are sourced to an external supplier, your order cycle will not contain Pick Release and Ship Confirm. You may still have a need to update inventory balances and/or bill the customer, however. You can create a cycle in which Inventory Interface and/or Receivables Interface directly follow the Enter cycle action. In this case, since there is no "shipped" quantity to interface, the entire quantity of an order line is interfaced. The Inventory Interface also honors schedule details specified during order entry. If you have items under subinventory, lot, or revision control, these must be specified in the item details before running the Inventory Interface. Items under location or serial number control require Pick Release and Ship Confirm before the Inventory Interface.

Before putting your new order cycle into full production, try processing one order through the entire cycle. Use the View Orders window to monitor the order through its cycle actions to ensure you see the results you expect. If you encounter any problems, you can correct your order cycle and begin again. If you complete a cycle action and your order does not appear as eligible for the next cycle action, this is an indication that there is a problem with your order cycle. Some common reasons for problems with cycles are that a cycle action is not listed as a prerequisites for any subsequent cycle actions, or a cycle action's prerequisite is not a cycle action included in the order cycle.

Attention: Purchase Release: Not Applicable is a non-passing result. Lines with this status do not automatically pass to the next cycle action in your order cycle. You must explicitly define this status as a prerequisite for the next cycle action.

See Also

Order Cycles

Overview of Processes

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